It is not a kitchen knife!

[Noodle]

I am appalled by the number of attacks using machetes

(sabres - the weapon of choice of the mauritians!) being

reported in recent months. Is Mauritius becoming a nation of

thieves and maniacs? The words 'tropical paradise' in the glossy

brochures at the overseas travelling agents are fast losing their

meaning in my humble opinion. The two recent attacks were

particularly brutal and vicious with one woman at a bus stop having

one of her hands severed, probably in a futile attempt to protect

herself. Imagine the horror of it all!


One wonders why this weapon is not controlled in the same

way as firearms. I cannot remember reading about anyone

being shot dead in Mauritius but not a month passes without

someone on the island being intimidated, robbed, slashed or

killed by another wielding a sabre. What is disturbing is that

these violent crimes happen in broad daylight and sometimes

in full view of the public! It must be something sickening to witness.

When attacks like these are shown on TV I have to turn my

eyes away although these scenes are heavily edited. So far

I have not seen a single item in the mauritian press calling for

this lethal weapon to be banned. Has it become part of the

mauritian culture? If this is the case we should be ashamed

of a 'culture' which includes such brutality.


One should not forget that the sabre is not a kitchen knife but a real

weapon and can be as deadly as a gun. In Rwanda about 800,000

were slashed out of existence in just 100 days (8,000 a day!) by people

using mostly sabres. Only a few weeks ago in Kenya about 600 were

massacred in a few days with the same weapon.


A way must be found to control this weapon. I do not think that at the

moment the authorities realise how deadly it is. Maybe this is because it is

used to slaughter animals during religious ceremonies including those of

longanistes. I firmly believe it must be put on the same level as firearms

and dealt with in the same way. As in the case of firearms, people must

provide good reasons why they should be given a license to own a sabre

and their characters etc thoroughly assessed. They should go through the

same strict registration process as for firearms with the SAME stiff

penalties if the sabre is used to commit a crime.


We are supposed to be a civilised people. No? I feel mauritians are now

almost completely desensitized to violence even of the worst kind. A sort

of virulent selfishness has infected our souls. Is this the result of rapid

development? The PM recently stated that he would transform the

island into a 'chantier'. But no one knows what will be the psychological

effects of this on the people. In my opinion there is a growing underclass

in Mauritius and it is angry. It is demoralised. Hence the increase in

violence. What more can one expect in a country where millionaires are

entitled to an old age pension and also benefit from government subsidies

on necessities such as flour and rice. Would one be surprised if the poor

revolted one day? The money the 'chantier' is generating is not trickling

down to them.

[fergeo]

C'est trop fréquent les attaques dites au sabre et difficile de contrer la possession d'une tel arme.J'aimerais savoir ce qu'on entend à Maurice du mot sabre,car pour moi je vois plutôt une sorte de machette que l'ouvrier se sert pour couper la canne à sucre?

[ledodoblanc]

En France, le sabre serait classé en arme de 6ème catégorie et la loi dit:


PORT OU TRANSPORT ILLICITE D UNE ARME DE 6° catégorie: Délit passible d'un maximum de 3 ans de prison et d'une amende pouvant aller jusqu'à 3750 €.

Aux politiques de faire leur boulot à Maurice.

[rubeina]

Je suis d'accord avec ledodoblanc, la loi n'est pas assé sévère a maurice.

[Rocco]

Posté par rubeina

Je suis d'accord avec ledodoblanc, la loi n'est pas assé sévère a maurice.

To have a law in Mauritius, one needs a constitution, to have a constitution one needs politic, to have politic one needs a democratic government and I deeply regret that these tools are absent in Mauritius.
Politic is wrongly interpretated on the island, its religions that rule tizil.

Ene sel lepep ene sel nation??? what a joke!!! chak zako proteze so montagne.

Rocco

[Noodle]

But we have a Constitution! Did the mauritians ever vote for this

Constitution? Who has read the Constitution in full in Mauritius?

Perhaps only the students studying law at the UoM. The politicians

know it by heart! They are always trying to find ways to twist its

contents to their advantage.


Therefore most mauritians do no know their rights. If one wishes

to democratically have drastic change in any country, one must know

its Constitution back to front first. One cannot change something

one does not know. The Constitution is the supreme law of any

country. It is in the interest of the politicians to keep most mauritians

in the dark as far as the Constitution is concerned. In this way the

people can be easily manipulated.


I completely agree with Rocco when he states that it is really

religion which is ruling the country. Would most of the politicians

be where they are if they did not belong to a particular religion and

they stated they were atheists and did not belong to any religious

group? There is not much difference between politics and religion. As

sabres are used to 'coup bouc' during religious ceremonies, it will

be very difficult to have any legislation passed to ban it. The

politicians would be cutting their own throats. Therefore the

number of crimes committed with sabres will keep increasing.


Coming back to the Constitution, I wonder how many realise

that COMMUNALISM is enshrined in it. Therefore when politicians

say 'nou ban sa', they are acting within the Constitution!! This is the

stupid Clause:


First Schedule Section 31(2) of the Constitution

(4) For the purposes of this Schedule, the population of Mauritius
shall be regarded as including a Hindu community, a Muslim
community and a Sino-Mauritian community; and every person
who does not appear, from his way of life, to belong to one or
other of those 3 communities shall be regarded as belonging
to the General Population, which shall itself be regarded as a
fourth community.


We are not 'en seul pep, ene sel nation' according to our Constitution.

We are 'quatre pep dans ene nation' It is sheer madness. Ene zocrice

qui fin ecrire sa.